K-P Assembly reopens Bank of Khyber case

Sets up special committee to probe BoK scam anew

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has reopened the Bank of Khyber scam case by constituting a special committee to probe the matter, comprising lawmakers of all political parties in the assembly.

Provincial Finance Minister Muzaffar Said said although the bank was a subordinate entity, he was unable to summon information on BoK affairs.

“Officials of the Planning and Development Department are exercising all powers relating to the bank ever since I changed the chairman of its board of directors for violating this province’s rights. The P&D department is not ready to let go of their unlawful possession of the bank despite receiving a letter from the provincial secretary finance in this regard,” he said while responding to questions raised by members of the opposition.



“Under relevant rules of business, the finance department is empowered to nominate the government’s representative on the bank’s board, but the P&D department is hindering this ... The P&D has issued a notification about the bank’s board of directors which has been declared illegal by the law department.”

Said also raised the issue of the appointment of the bank’s current managing director, saying that the appointment violated the rules.

“The MD published an advertisement [last year], levelling baseless allegations against me. His incompetence and misconduct has tarnished the bank’s reputation,” he said.

He urged the house to form an inquiry committee to probe all issues pertaining to the bank, adding that the panel should submit a report in the next 15 days.

Awami National Party’s [ANP] parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak raised the issue in the house via an adjournment motion.

Babak called for setting up a special committee to probe all matters relating to the bank.



“Bok is a major asset of the province. It had earned an annual profit of Rs1.7 billion in 2013 but the profit is decreasing in the current government’s tenure,” he said. He also criticised the bank for giving away Rs19 billion in soft loans to Punjab-based entities.

Lawmakers of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz [PML-N], Pakistan Peoples Party [PPP] and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl [JUI-F] endorsed Babak’s demand.

Subsequently, the speaker announced to form the special committee to probe all matters pertaining to the bank.

Provincial law minister Imtiaz Qureshi said that the government was not protecting anyone.

“We support merit from the beginning. PTI’s government will oppose anyone who acted against the interests of the province,” he said.



Earlier, the house also passed the K-P Mental Health Bill, 2017, and the K-P Civil Court [amendment] Bill, 2017, before starting the debate on the bank.